The First Vice-President of Iran, Mohammad Reza Aref, said earlier today during a speech to other government officials that Iran must be prepared for a “state of war,” stating that they are “ready to enter into negotiations,” but only if there are guarantees they will not be attacked during the diplomatic process by the United States.

F-35A Lightning lls with the “The Green Mountain Boys” of the Vermont Air National Guard’s 158th Fighter Wing - the same unit which deployed to Puerto Rico late last year and participated in the operation earlier this month in Venezuela - seen landing tonight at Lajes Field in the Azores, located halfway between Europe and the United States in the Northern Atlantic, on their way to the Middle East.

Full video credit provided to andre_spotter_lajes on Instagram.

President Donald J. Trump has received briefings on multiple different attack options against Iran in recent days, developed in tandem by the White House and Pentagon, U.S. officials tell the Wall Street Journal.

Among the options is the “big” plan which would see the United States launch strikes against government facilities and those operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in a large-scale bombing campaign, likely involving assets from both the U.S. Air Force and Navy.

Less-involved options include strikes on symbolic regime targets, allowing space for the bombings to ramp up if Iran doesn’t agree to end its nuclear work, and/or options such as cyberattacks on Iranian banks or tougher sanctions against the Iranian Government.

In addition to the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) and her Carrier Strike Group; consisting of the USS Spruance (DDG-111), USS Michael Murphy (DDG-112), and USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG-121), which arrived in the Arabian Sea earlier this week, several other Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers have also arrived in the region, including the USS Delbert D. Black (DDG-119) which recently transited the Suez Canal into the Red Sea.

President Donald J. Trump announces that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will be decertifying Bombardier Global Expresses, and all other aircraft made in Canada, until Canada certifies the Gulfstream 500, 600, 700, and 800 Business Jets produced in the United States. Additionally, Trump states that if the issue is not immediately corrected, he will impose a 50% on all Canadian aircraft sold in the United States.

President Trump does not clarified if this will effect the U.S. Air Force’s Bombardier E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications Nodes (BACN) or any of the U.S Army’s Global 6500s, which are produced by Bombardier Defense in Canada. One of the E-11A produced by Bombardier Defense just deployed to the Middle East, part of the ongoing buildup directed at Iran.

Israeli assessments are currently indicating that the United States, on the orders of President Donald J. Trump, will launch a broad attack soon on Iran with the goal of toppling the Iranian Government. According to the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, significant cooperation to prepare for such an attack is taking place between the Israel Defense Force and the U.S. Armed Forces.

President Donald J. Trump spoke to reporters about Iran at the screening of MELANIA tonight at the Kennedy Center in Washington, stating, “We're strong, we're financially powerful, we're militarily powerful. I built the military in my first term and now we have a group headed out to a place called Iran and hopefully we won't have to use it.”

While speaking earlier to reporters, President Donald J. Trump, for the first time, stated that thousands of protesters had been killed during the recent anti-government demonstrations in Iran.

Reporter: “Have you had any conversations with Iran in the last few days and are you planning on it?”

Trump: “I have had and I am planning on it, yeah. We have a lot of very big, very powerful ships sailing to Iran right now and it would be great if we didn't have to use them.”

Reporter: “Can you say what the message was that you shared with Iran?”

Trump: “Well, I told them two things: Number one, no nuclear. And number two, stop killing protesters. They're killing them by the thousands. You know, I stopped 837 hangings two weeks ago. But they're going to have to do something. Nobody's seen anything like it.”

President Donald J. Trump has been presented in recent days with an expanded list of potential military options against Iran aimed at doing further damage to the country’s nuclear program and long-range ballistic missile facilities, or weakening the hold of Iranian Supreme-Leader Ali Khamenei, according to multiple U.S. officials who spoke to the New York Times.

Recent options presented to President Trump reportedly go beyond those provided in the past, including the potential for American Forces to carry out commando raids on nuclear sites inside Iran. This plan would involve secretly sending in U.S. Special Forces to destroy or badly damage parts of the Iranian nuclear program not already damaged in last June’s bombing by B-2A “Spirit” Strategic Long-Range Stealth Bombers flown from the United States.

Despite continued attempts by allies in the Middle East, including Turkey, Oman and Qatar, to broker diplomatic talks between Iran and the United States, the opportunity for direct diplomacy to discuss Iran’s nuclear program and ballistic missile capacity has not gained traction, according to three regional officials who spoke with CBS News.

Azerbaijan has joined Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in formally assuring Iran that it will not allow its airspace or territory to be used for hostile action against its southern neighbor by Israel or the United States.

Two KC-135R “Stratotanker” Aerial-Refueling Tankers and a KC-46A Pegasus have departed from Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington State heading northwest, supporting several B-52H “Stratofortress” Long-Range Strategic Bombers preparing to cross the Pacific. The B-52Hs are likely bound for Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean - located roughly 2,500 miles from Iran - where they will join two additional B-52s that quietly crossed the Pacific last night from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.

Israel is pressing the United States to join it in re-striking Iran’s long-range ballistic missile program, which intelligence officials say Iran has largely rebuilt since Israel devastated the program during the Twelve-Day War last June.